Ng 1 Damien Ng Mr.

Ludlow-Mattson English 114 10-19-13 Cultural Differences Culture plays a big role in everybodys lives, but what happens when you try and break out and attempt to assimilate into another culture? In stories The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Mother Tongue, Sherman Alexie and Amy Tan both use code switching to show the difference between their cultures and another, but because each story has a different culture, each story displays code switching in a different manner. For example, in Indian culture it is acceptable to be an alcoholic, but in the white culture it may be frowned upon. This can cause conflict because Indians might be more open about being an alcoholic and possibly joke around about it, while the white people may take it as more serious matter and not consider it funny. They may even consider it as an inappropriate subject to talk about. Another example would be how it is acceptable for Chinese children to speak to their parents with improper English, but in White culture, White children are suppose to speak to their parents with proper English. In the story The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie displays code switching between the Indian and White culture by showing how Arnold

Ng 2 Spirit struggles to transit from the Indian culture to the White culture. One passage that shows his struggle from the transition is when Penelope asks Arnold for his name, I thought you said your name was Junior, Penelope said. She accused me of telling her my real name. Well, okay, it wasnt completely my real name My name is Junior, I said. And my name is Arnold. Its Junior and Arnold. Im both. I felt like two different people inside one body. (60-61) Alexie is showing how Arnold was stuck in his Indian culture when he first arrived to Rearden because he called himself Junior, and he didnt realize that the white people were not used to that type of name. He felt as if he had two different people living inside of his body because of the cultural differences. This shows how culture plays a big role because the white people have a different lifestyle compared to the Indians such as having normal names. In the novel, the white people have different names compared to their parents, but on the reservation, there are some Indian kids who have the same first, middle, and last name as their dad or mom. We can use Sherman Alexies The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian to help analyze Amy Tans Mother Tongue. Sherman Alexie gives a cultural explanation for why Arnold told Penelope his name was Junior. He argues that the reason Arnold calls himself Junior is because on the Spokane Reservation everyone refers to him as Junior, but down South at Rearden, he is known as Arnold and not Junior. We can argue that the reason why Amy Tan speaks to her mother the way she does in Mother Tongue is that she grew up with that type of English. Just last week, as I was walking down the street with her, I again myself conscious of the English I was using My husband was with us as well, and he didnt notice any switch in my English. And then I realized why.

Ng 3 Its because over the twenty years weve been together Ive often used the same kind of English with him and sometimes he uses it with me. It has become our language of intimacy, a different sort of English that relates to family talk, the language I grew up with. (272) Tan is arguing how she has become accustomed to speaking improper English when she is around her mom and husband, but when she is around American born Chinese or White people, she tends to speak with correct and formal English. Although many people consider Tans English improper, her and her family consider it proper English. This shows how she recently realized she has been code switching between two different cultures and even though she used to be embarrassed about her moms English, Tan would still speak to her mother with improper English because that is how the two communicate among one another. I feel as if both, Sherman Alexie and Amy Tan, are trying to say that you should embrace your culture. Sherman Alexie made Arnold hate his Indian culture because of certain elements such as, poverty and alcoholism, while Amy Tan said that she used to be embarrassed about her mothers limited English. Despite of what they think about their cultural backgrounds, both of them overcame their cultural insecurities and began to be proud of where they are from and how they speak. I agree with what Alexie and Tan are saying because some people are embarrassed about their culture. Many people dont celebrate their cultural traditions anymore due to lack of knowledge, embarrassment and time. For example, some people may not have the time to go to church because of work or school. Others may find it embarrassing to go to church because they surround themself with atheist or people with a different culture. On another note, I believe people

Ng 4 with similar cultures would talk differently when in the presence of someone who has a different culture. Imagine yourself as a young American born Chinese teenager with parents who have broken English. Because your parents dont have fluent English and they probably have a hard time understanding English, you have to speak to both of them with broken English so they understand what you are trying to say. When you leave home and go to school, you talk with proper English because thats how you were taught in school, but if you saw a foreign Chinese student, you would probably speak to him/her with improper English because that is how you communicate with your parents. In conclusion, Sherman Alexie and Amy Tan both use excellent use of code switching between cultures in their stories The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian and Mother Tongue. Many people dont realize that code switching happens naturally. The United States is filled with many diverse cultures and since there are so many different types among us, people from other cultures may communicate with each other and may even befriend one another. Like Arnold in the story, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, he considers himself Junior and many Hispanics in the U.S. have the name Junior and it is considered normal in their culture, but to the Chinese culture, that name is out of the norm. Chinese people would never consider giving their child a nickname such as Junior or even name their child Junior. Although one culture may be entirely different from another, we do a good job at adapting to cultural differences and being able to code switch between two or maybe even three cultures.

References 1. Alexie, Sherman, and Ellen Forney. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. New York: Little, Brown, 2007. Print. 2. Tan, Amy. "Mother Tongue." The Opposite of Fate: A Book of Musings. New York: Putnam, 2003. 271-79. Print.